


Breakfast Surprise

by In_Dee



Series: Taggert 'Verse [6]
Category: NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:48:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29132106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_Dee/pseuds/In_Dee
Summary: Sam tilted his head to the side, his lips pursed when he took in the scene.
Relationships: G Callen/Original Male Character(s), Michelle Hanna/Sam Hanna
Series: Taggert 'Verse [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808557
Comments: 10
Kudos: 21





	Breakfast Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> So, recently I’ve had to pace myself insanely with not posting too much too soon from my backlog because RL isn’t really permitting me to write new things. As it is, my backlog is thinning out (consider me frazzled about it. Gah!)
> 
> Anyway, this one is about Sam finding out... have fun ;)

They were going at a hard pace, both breathing deeply as they ran beside each other.

It wasn’t often that they managed to run together, work and family interfering with their schedules. Sam glanced over at his wife, smiling when she turned her head after feeling his gaze. She returned his smile, a mischievous twinkle entering her eyes before she sped up and took a sharp right, leaving the route they had planned previously and instead heading down a busy street towards the ocean, towards Venice.

Sam shook his head in mild exasperation and then chased after her with a grin. He quickly caught up with her, then again, she wasn’t exactly making it difficult.

Within a few moments, they left the asphalt of the sidewalk and instead took their run to the beach.

They once more fell in step with each other, merely enjoying the possibility to run together.

Sam nudged her lightly. “Breakfast at O’Malley’s?”

Michelle turned to him, her lips quirking into a smile, “a man after my own heart,” she teased, even though Sam suspected that changing her route down to the beach had been her not quite subtle suggestion of this outcome.

Ten minutes later, they both slowed down more or less simultaneously, easing their run into a lighter jog before slowing further to a walk.

O’Malley’s was used to catering for the morning joggers and sport-loving Los Angeles crowd, but that didn’t mean they had to turn up there still out of breath.

Sam reached for Michelle’s hand, feeling her fingers tangling with his.

First running and now walking on the beach with his wife wasn’t the worst way to spend a rare free day.

The last few weeks had been hectic with back-to-back cases that led them not only all over L.A., but also had them out of the country several times.

They had all been exhausted and running on fumes and when Callen had come back from a meeting with Hetty, proclaiming they had three days off, everyone had packed up and had gotten the hell out of dodge before someone could recall them.

That was two days ago and Sam hadn’t seen hide nor hair from any of his team mates. They were a close knit team, but he couldn’t help but be glad for the space.

Following Michelle into the seaside restaurant, they were quickly seated outside, a nice corner table with an incredible view of the beach and the ocean.

“Mnnnn, this is lovely,” Michelle all but purred after settling down, her hands on the menu but not yet picking it up, instead watching the proceedings on the beach.

Sam followed her gaze and had to agree.

Xxxxxxx

They were half-way through breakfast - and for once Sam had stopped arguing for a healthy breakfast because sometimes, his wife just needed a little bit of a greasy-breakfast the likes of which is partner favored - when Sam’s eyes were drawn away from his wife and his mind slipped from their conversation.

Something was going on, some internal system alerting him of _things happening_. It didn’t feel threatening, but his awareness sharpened as his eyes surveyed the crowd on the beach below, his senses tingling.

Michelle fell silent a moment later, noticing his distraction. She turned and started looking around as well, taking her cues from her husband.

“Is that Callen?” she asked several moments later and Sam followed her gaze, his eyes zeroing in on his partner down on the beach, out for his own run. His shoulders instantly loosened and his posture relaxed. It wasn’t danger coming for them. His internal system was just so used to his partner’s presence that it simply honed in on the man being close.

He was about to turn away from G with a smile on his face, when something else caught his gaze.

Sam tilted his head to the side, his lips pursed when he took in the scene.

Callen wasn’t alone. Instead, someone else was running alongside him. Both men’s postures were casual and open, and there was a rare full smile on G’s features, one of the easy-going ones that they only saw infrequently.

Sam’s jaw dropped open when, a moment later, the man running beside G laughed, head thrown back before he turned mid-stride and shoved G. His partner’s reaction was even more startling, as he obviously started laughing as well, unconvincingly trying to fend off the attack, losing his stride as he turned, only to be driven back and back into the water.

The two men grappled and if his partner weren’t laughing, Sam would be out of his seat right now to provide backup. Instead though, he watched in astonished confusion as the two men obviously horseplayed, the water rushing up to their knees, drenching them with the spray of the waves.

They seemed oblivious to their surroundings, something that Sam had never seen in his partner, who was always in control, always cautious, even guarded while asleep.

“You’re seeing that as well, right?” he asked his wife, not taking his eyes off the scene.

Sam only briefly let his gaze flicker to Michelle when the pause was prominent. Taking her in, he saw the same astonishment that he himself felt.

Returning his gaze to his partner, he watched as the two men trudged out of the water together, supporting each other when a wave chased them up on the beach and they stumbled, all the while laughing and shoving at each other.

And now that he didn’t only see the other man’s profile or his back, Sam felt a tingle of familiarity about him. Something was niggling at the back of his mind and he was certain that he knew this man, had seen him before.

Sam leaned back in his seat, his eyes remaining firmly on the man beside his partner, taking in his features and trying to make connections.

The two men took up their jog again, obviously not minding their drenched clothes and what had to be squelching shoes. They were running past O’Malley’s moments later and both Sam and Michelle turned in their seats to watch them run past.

There was a moment where G tensed, his stride faltering as he began to look around. Both Sam and Michelle shrunk back in their seats, knowing the placement of their table and the added glare of the sun in their backs would keep them hidden.

Sam watched his partner, watched as the man accompanying him turned and jogged backwards, obviously shouting something at G who in turn shook his head and started up after the other man again.

Both Sam and Michelle were quiet for several minutes afterwards until Michelle turned to him, quiet wonder in her eyes. “I’ve never seen him that relaxed. Not even when he’s playing with Kam or Aiden,” she said softly.

Sam could only nod, slowly reaching for his coffee cup and taking a sip.

“Who’s that man? Do you know him?” Michelle asked a few minutes later.

Sam grimaced and tilted his head to the side, pursing his lips. “I know him. I’ve seen him before but I can’t place him right now. I just know he’s not a danger.”

Michelle laughed softly, “I’d say that was obvious.”

Tilting his head to the side, Sam had to concede the point. He mulled over the other man’s identity while he reached for the fruit bowl, contemplatively spooning several pieces. He knew that other man, but not in this casual setting. Sometimes, knowing someone in a different function, or uniform, or setting, it became difficult to merge the two versions of one person.

Uniform… Sam rubbed a hand across his jaw, following that line of thought, picturing the man with a combat uniform. It was then that the pieces fell into place.

“Taggert,” he said softly, meeting his wife’s gaze when she raised her eyes, her eyebrow arched in a silent request to elaborate, “Lieutenant Luc Taggert. Combat Medic of the SEAL team that we worked with to get Callen out of captivity in the Middle East early last year.”

“The one that left him with broken fingers and a broken foot among other things?” Michelle asked.

“That’s the one,” Sam affirmed with a nod. He leaned back in his seat, “there was something about the way those two connected, the way G allowed the man to treat his wounds when usually he bolts as soon as he gets a glimpse of a medic. You know how skittish he can be.”

Michelle nodded with a wry grin. They had both seen Callen in hospital and both knew the cagey aura surrounding the usually calm and unflappable agent in these situations.

Sam wasn’t aware that the two men had kept in contact and he also wasn’t sure in what capacity, because… while what he had seen down on the beach wasn’t anything other than two individuals horseplaying on a friendly basis, it felt like something far more than that. This was Callen they were talking about after all. He was the epitome of aloof and controlled.

What they had witnessed hinted at a deeply personal relationship, someone G was content to let his guard down with, someone he allowed _close_ in a way Sam hadn’t ever seen before. It was as interesting as it was astonishing.

Still, at the same time, some other pieces fell into place… the way G had looked as giddy as the rest of them about the free days when usually Sam saw in his friend’s eyes and posture the dismay at having to laze the days away.

Other than that, Sam hadn’t noticed anything that would hint at his partner being in a personal relationship - though admittedly, if Callen wanted to hide something, he was very good at it, having had the training.

Due to their back-to-back cases there hadn’t been any out-of-office outings for the team lately that G might have skipped out on in favor of being _somewhere else_. Then again, the way those two had behaved around each other, Sam somehow doubted this was a recent development.

Sam wondered what he should do about it, if he should corner his partner, if he should poke his contacts at the SEALs to feel out this Luc Taggert, or if he should simply sit back and observe.

He shook himself out of his internal musings when he heard his wife’s laugh.

Sam blinked his eyes back into focus and frowned at Michelle.

“Sam Hanna, I don’t think there’s a need to go into damage control, nor is there a need to be ticked off.”

“I’m not --,” Sam protested but cut himself off at the sharpening of his wife’s gaze.

“Let him have this for himself. Let them figure it out,” Michelle advised in a gentle tone of voice. She leaned forward, her forearms on the table and Sam sat forward as well, instinctively drawn to her, “he’s always wary of having something for himself, wary of trusting that he might deserve something good. Let him have this for himself.”

Sam sighed. He knew what Michelle said was true. Callen, with his upbringing, didn’t understand that he deserved to be happy, that he could have things for himself. Sam shouldn’t butt in. If his partner needed to keep this to himself, then Sam would sit back and watch. He would intervene though if something went wrong.

It was his job to back his partner up after all.


End file.
